Poelzig renovated the Zirkus Schumann, an amphitheatre, to create the Grosses Schauspielhaus. Its combination of a normal stage with a revolving stage and a cyclorama was innovative for its time. The stage was connected through an adjustable forestage with an arena surrounded by a horseshoe of seating. In 1919–21 Reinhardt there presented a series of magnificent spectacles that included the Oresteia, Danton’s Death, and Julius Caesar. The theatre was later demolished.

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April 30, 1869 Berlin June 14, 1936 Berlin German architect who is remembered for his Grosses Schauspielhaus (1919), an auditorium in Berlin that was one of the finest architectural examples of German Expressionism.

September 9, 1873 Baden, near Vienna, Austria October 31, 1943 New York, NewYork, U.S. one of the first theatrical directors to achieve widespread recognition as a major creative artist, working in Berlin, Salzburg, New York City, and Hollywood. He helped found the annual Salzburg Festival.

theatrical device for scene changes, or shifts, by which three or more settings are constructed on a turntable around a central pivot and revolved before the audience. It was invented for the Kabuki theatre in Japan in the 18th century and was introduced into Western theatre at the Residenztheater...